Donald Trump 'banned' Diego Maradona from entering US for 'insulting him'

Diego Maradona was once refused entry to the United States following an insult to Donald Trump, according to his lawyer.

Maradona was first issued with a ban from the US after testing positive for ephedrine at the 1994 World Cup, where Argentina were beaten by Romania in the round of 16.

After a 2-1 win over Nigeria in the group stage, Maradona was summoned for a random drugs test and a positive result saw him instantly suspended and sent home from the tournament.

Maradona was suspended by FIFA for more than a year but another failed test in 1995 led to the US revoking his visa.

The ban was lifted in 2009 and Maradona returned to the US as Argentina manager. However, fast forward nine years and the World Cup winner was again not allowed to entry the country because of a comment made about Trump, who was in his first term as President.

Maradona was immediately sent home from the World Cup in 1994. Image: Getty

According to his lawyer, Matias Morla, Maradona was advised to keep quiet when talking about the US in an interview on Venezuelan network TeleSur.

But he wasn't quite able to stick to the task at hand and loosely translated, ended up calling Trump a dummy and seeing repercussions as a result.

Speaking on Buenos Dias America in Argentina, Morla said: "You can imagine, I was in the embassy and I said 'Diego, please don't talk about the United States'. Because the interview was with TeleSur and I know how these things go.

"And the second question was 'What do you think of Donald Trump'?

"He said 'Donald Trump is a chirolita (slang for dummy or puppet)?' After this, I said I'm going to have to represent you in Miami instead."

Maradona was set to travel to the US for a Miami court case involving his ex-wife of 14 years, Claudia Villafane.

Diego Maradona died in November 2020. Image: Getty

As per the Daily Mail, Villafane was accused of stealing money from the late Napoli icon and using it to buy luxury apartments in the 'Magic City'.

In 2017, Maradona called Trump a "comic" and "cartoon" in an interview with RT in Russia and said he would regularly "switch the channel" if he came on TV.

Maradona died of a heart attack in November 2020, days after undergoing brain surgery for a blood clot on the brain.

Members of his medical team were charged with negligence and a trial which began in 2024 is still ongoing.